The Legend of Earth

deep-well transit. It was also a route frequented by most of the other long-distance travelers in the galaxy. Yet as the gigantic Human fleet made its way inexorably toward Juir, most of this other interstellar traffic wisely chose to move out of the way.

The Human fleet was the largest concentration of warships in the galaxy since the Juirean Mass over thirty- five hundred years before, even though that fact was not totally accurate. The Mass had consisted of over ten-thousand starships, but when it spread out from Juir, it went off in all directions, assimilating thousands of worlds into the new Juirean Empire at the time. But with that much space to cover, individual units of Juirean warships never numbered much more than twenty or thirty in an area. The Human Fleet consisted of just over fifteen hundred starships, all in one concentration, and now still spread out along the deep-well route for over half a light year. To the untrained eye, half a light year would seem like a vast distance to arrange fifteen hundred starships. Yet at deep-well velocities, the concentration of ships appeared as one brilliant, oblong blob of white-hot energy, ripping nearby space into concentric waves of warped and contorted space.

The approaching Human fleet was impossible to miss.

The cryptic messages had begun about a week ago. They came in across all comm bands and mainly from the direction in which the fleet was headed — from the Alliance Cluster. Universal translation bugs made every message decipherable, and they all spoke about an attack within the Cluster, possibly even of Juir herself.

At first, the intel guys believed the messages to be a ruse, an effort to convince the advancing Humans that Juir had already been destroyed and therefore not worth the trip. But then the sheer number and variety of the messages convinced them that this was no ruse. Juir had been attacked, and from the description of the attackers, the ships appeared to be Klin.

Caleb had been privy to the discussions going back and forth between Earth and the fleet. Had the Klin really attacked Juir ahead of the Humans? By now it was universally believed that the Klin were responsible for the entire Human-Juirean conflict, with the intended purpose of weakening both races to the point where the Klin could then assume control of the Expansion. But then Falor-Kapel happened, leaving the Human Fleet stronger than any galactic force in thirty-five hundred years. The Klin would not stand a chance going up against the Humans.

With the belief that Juir had indeed been attacked, there developed a strong advocacy among certain parties for the fleet to turn around and return to Earth. The Juireans had been destroyed, so the revenge they sought for the attack upon the Earth should now be satisfied. And who cared if the Klin now wanted to make themselves king? Galactic politics were not the responsibility of the Human race.

Others had argued that it had been the Klin who had tricked the Juireans into attacking the Earth, and therefore it was the Klin who Humanity should seek vengeance against. And now, from all accounts, they occupied Juir. To many, it didn’t seem right that the Klin should win, not after all the death and destruction their machinations had caused.

All these discussions had taken place rapidly and nearly continuously for the past week. The dynamics within the galaxy were rapidly changing, and however it all turned out, as far as RM1 Caleb Cobb was concerned, he was ready to go home.

Caleb was alone in the radio shack on the mid-watch — his watch-mate, RM2 Brian Dockins, had just left to grab a snack in the mess hall — when his comm screens began to light up. It was flash traffic from the forward units of the fleet, reporting a new message that had been picked up coming over a multitude of the lower wormhole frequencies. If it hadn’t been for Command’s thirst for more definitive intel on the Klin attack of Juir, most of these frequencies would have gone unscanned. As it was Caleb had now received no less than thirteen copies of the same short message.

And then his own scanner picked up the signal.

Caleb listened to the few short sentences and knew immediately to whom the message was addressed. He encrypted the recording on his computer and then left the radio shack just as Brian walked through the hatchway.

“Take over,” Caleb said as he passed Brian. “I have to report this.”

“Report what?” Brain mumbled after him, his mouth half-full of a roast beef sub. But Caleb was already gone.

The radio shack was located in the Combat Information Center of the ship and only a short distance from Admiral Allen’s underway cabin. Caleb approached the Admiral’s door, and even at this late hour, did not hesitate to knock. The Admiral would want to hear this.

Chapter 26

The past week had been some the busiest time Nate Allen had spent as commander of the Human fleet. The now-confirmed attack on Juir by the Klin had thrown a wrench into all their plans. It’s not that he wasn’t glad to see the Juirean capital destroyed — it meant that many Human lives would now be saved. But now he had to play politics, trying to convince the people back home — as well as several of his top officers — that they should continue with their mission, but this time against their true enemy — the Klin.

An accommodation had finally been reached: They had already come too far at this point to simply turn and walk away. The fleet would continue to Juir, but if the Klin did not readily engage, then the fleet would return to Earth after establishing a tentative government to oversee the administration of the Expansion.

At this time, it was widely accepted that the Human forces were isolated and a very long way from home. This was not a wise move to make militarily. More ships were coming, and others were in production, but every time the bean counters back on Earth ran their figures, they always came up with the same thing: More. More ships, more men, more material, more bases — more commitment.

As it turned out, trying to conquer a galaxy was a pretty big deal.

The one thing Admiral Allen had going for him — and an argument that eventually won over the top brass — was something he called the Medieval Strategy. During the discussions with Earth, Allen compared the current campaign to those experienced by armies in medieval times. Back then, vast land tracts were controlled by a lord and a castle, and on the surrounding lands there could be dozens of settlements all loyal to the castle and whatever noble-person ruled from within its barricades. Advancing armies did not have to stop and subdue each individual settlement. Instead, all they had to do was take over the castle, and then all the surrounding citizenry would naturally pledge allegiance to the new king of the castle. It was as simple as the old Who song: out with the old boss, in with the new boss.

That was the way it was in the Expansion. So far, Allen’s forces had not had to deviate to a single rebellious Expansion world. All they had to do was defeat the Juirean forces and take over Juir — and then the entire Expansion would be under Human control. This agreement had sealed the deal for Allen and his Human fleet. Even now, the politicians on Earth were receiving dozens of overtures from Expansion worlds from the Fringe to the Core, all seeking direction now that the Juireans had left.

For the power brokers back on the once-lowly and backward planet of Earth, this was a golden opportunity to gain some real power. Masters of the Universe — for real! That became the new clarion call. Yet even though Nate Allen believed in peace through strength, and that it was better to control territory than to not, he was hoping they weren’t biting off more than they could chew….

It was oh-one-thirty hours ship’s time when the Admiral left his last meeting and shuffled off to his cabin. He had just kicked off his shoes and fell back on his bunk when a knock came at his door. What now? he wondered. He didn’t bother to get up from the bed.

“Enter.” He was only half-surprised to see petty officer Cobb enter his cabin. Probably just another ‘urgent’ message from Earth; they never seem to grasp the meaning of ‘ship’s time.’